From the Ashes
by ElderxChildx6
Summary: Hashirama and Madara were friends when they were children. Careful to keep their friendship a secret. In another time, in another place, they eventually became enemies. But in this time, in this place, a mysterious girl changed all that. (A MadaraxOC fanfiction. Second scenario for Len Hatake. UPDATES RANDOMLY! Found Image on Google [May subject to change].)
1. Prologue

**From the Ashes**

 **A Naruto Fanfiction**

 **Author: ElderxChildx6**

 **Co-Author/Editor: EDelta88**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights reserved.**

 **From the Ashes (c) Me & EDelta88**

 **Len Hatake (c) Me**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Long ago, in a time when children entered the battlefield as shinobi at a very young age, war raged between the clans. Family lines fell out of existence almost as quickly as they came, killed off by their enemies or betrayed by their friends. Two clans in particular, the Uchiha and the Senju, the two most powerful of the shinobi clans, were constantly at odds. In fact, there hadn't been a time in living memory when the two superpowers had not been in conflict with each other.

In stark contrast, the Hatake clan was neither large nor particularly well known except within the shinobi community. Specializing in espionage and assassination, the Hatake remained in the background of the wars, preferring instead to exist in the shadow and away from the limelight of large scale combat. They were, however, involved in the wars. The Hatake dwelled a safe, though not considerable, distance from both the Uchiha and the Senju. In fact, at one point, the Hatake had become an occasional ally to the Senju clan. Unfortunately, this put the Hatake at odds with the Uchiha. Turning the two into enemies, themselves, despite how the Hatake rarely fought alongside the Senju to help in their affairs.

No one knows how it started. Only that it happened. The Hatake clan territory was in flames. Countless bodies being burned alive. Screams and shouts filled the air. At another time, in another place, none survived leaving one boy who had been on a mission as the sole survivor. But at this place, at this time...one other did.

The smell of smoke and burned flesh filled the air. A small child, badly burned, racing through the forests in an attempt to get away from the flames that now consumed her clansmen and home. The only reason she was even able to run in the first place was because of the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Her silver hair singed, her entire body covered in third and fourth-degree burns, she ran blindly into the trees. The fact that she was even alive now was a miracle in and of itself. She ran until her feet bled and then kept running, the only thought in her mind was to get as far away as possible. Even when the adrenaline ran dry and she barely had the strength to run, she kept going. Her physical state no longer mattered, she was pushing herself farther through will alone. She might have kept going, hobbling through the woods until she dropped dead from exhaustion had she not tripped on a root.

With a cry of surprise and a dull thud she hit the ground, her small body quivering with fatigue as the intense, almost unbearable pain of the burns began to sink in. Whimpering in agony, she curled into a small ball on the cold, wet ground, drawing into herself as if she could hide from the pain.

She didn't know where she was. She didn't know how far or how long she had ran. At the moment, she didn't particularly care. Her entire world had narrowed down to pain, fear, and fire...

Then the pain and fatigue overcame her, and she knew nothing but darkness.

* * *

A/N: Okay...so I still wasn't done with _Team Tragedy_ 's chapter. My boyfriend can even tell you, writing the Wave arc is annoying.. I'm either going to come up with a different C-Rank mission outright for the future or I am simply just going to skip over it completely. It's ridiculous.

So I decided that to help all of you guys in your wait, I'd post the prologue to _From the Ashes_. Another Naruto fanfiction my boyfriend and I are working on together.^^ The updates are going to be ENTIRELY random! I don't know when I'll post the chapters, and please do not bug me about it. My profile already states that _Team Tragedy_ is my main focus. So please try to refrain from bugging me about this one. Ask questions all you like. I am perfectly fine with questions.

 **EXCLUSIVE! NO OTHER SITE WILL HAVE THIS STORY! FEEL PRIVILEGED!**

Like my story? Please support my writing by becoming my patron at . com. Type in " . com." Then add "/ elderxchildx6" to the end of it and it should take you directly to my page. (Be sure to remove the spacing between everything so that way you can actually get to my account.)


	2. Chapter 1: The River Getaway

**From the Ashes**

 **A Naruto Fanfiction**

 **Author: ElderxChildx6**

 **Co-Author/Editor: EDelta88**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights reserved.**

 **From the Ashes (c) Me & EDelta88**

 **Len Hatake (c) Me**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The River Getaway**

 _ **Somewhere in Fire Country, A.S. 984...**_

Senju Hashirama hated mornings, though not for the reasons you might expect. In fact, Hashirama was quite the early riser, wakeful and alert hours before the sun came up. No, it wasn't the morning itself that Hashirama hated… it was waking up and remembering the sorry state of the world that he found unpleasant. A world where children were expected to go to war and die. A world where people slaughtered each other for a few coins, if that. A world where hate and bloodshed were the norms and peace was a laughable pipe dream.

He hated the status quo of his world, and he especially hated waking up every morning and realizing that it wasn't just a horrible nightmare that he had imagined in his sleep.

With a tired sigh, Hashirama sat up in his bed glancing up at the still dark sky out his window. "Hello moon," he whispered, staring up at the pure white orb in the sky for several moments before climbing out of his bed to face the day.

Today was a day he especially did not want to wake up to. For today was a sad day in his eyes. His younger brother, Kawarama, was no longer apart of the living; dead and buried. He had died several days before now, but Hashirama still took the loss very hard as Kawarama was so young… so very, very young and new to the world. He should not have died so soon. He should have enjoyed his life. Not come to terms with the cruel realities of the world at the age of seven.

With another sigh Hashirama knelt at a small shrine he and his brothers had set up the night before striking a match and lighting a stick of incense. Bowing his head, he quietly murmured a prayer for Kawarama to find peace in the next life.

That done, Hashirama stood up and began to get dressed. Deciding that it was finally time to start his day.

He first made his way to the family bath to wash up. Overhearing most of his fellow clansmen discussing a possible battle strategy against their rival Uchiha Clan. He always stayed quiet for these discussions for he knew that he would say the wrong thing and make his clansmen that much more irritated with him. Something he really didn't want to deal with first thing in the morning.

After he was clean, he returned to his room to get dressed for the day. Several minutes later he walked back out wearing his usual haori over a tunic and hakama pants, simple and easy to maneuver in. Whether he liked it or not, he lived in an age where the possibility of attack was a constant thing. It was their way of life, the way of the shinobi world. If he wasn't prepared for a fight, he would be killed on the spot by whatever enemy happened to find him. Hiding basic shuriken and kunai throughout his profile for the off chance he had need of them.

Once he was dressed, he went off to get something to eat. Sitting in between his brothers Itama and Tobirama. Again, he said very little while he sat with his family. Not wanting to start an argument and get in trouble with the others in his clan. It was already sad enough that Itama was with the rest of their clansmen in means of war and possible revenge for killing Kawarama. Part of him felt it would be a very long time before he could get his fellow clansmen see reason over their children.

After he finished his meal in silence, Hashirama got up and left the dining area. Making his way out of the Senju Clan territory and off to the riverbank that had come to be his escape from his life as a ninja. Part of him hoping that his friend Madara would be there so he could discuss with him about the events that had transpired with his younger brother. Having learned a while back that Madara had lost several of his siblings in battle, it would be nice to talk about his problems with someone who would understand and actually find reason in his ideals about the children of the other clans.

When Hashirama almost made it to the clearing of the riverbank, he found that Madara wasn't there. However, there was something else there, almost completely hidden by the underbrush, that caught him completely off guard.

Taking a closer look his eyes widened at the sight that greeted him. "By the gods..." he whispered, wrinkling his nose as he finally noticed the smell.

It was a body, lying in the bushes. A young girl curled on the ground just a few feet away from the river, and even him. She was almost completely covered in burns. The tips of her silver hair singed and short with what appeared to be the remains of a leather tie still tangled in the strands. Had she worn it long before? Her clothes in a similar state as her hair, with charred holes everywhere… and appeared as though the fabric might be partially fused to her skin, a testament to the strength of the blaze that had done this to her.

Hashirama stared at her hair for a few minutes, a sore lump rising in his throat. Though singed, her hair reminded him of his younger brother's hair. Maybe they were related somehow? A member of the clan? He couldn't see how that would be so. It was his first time ever seeing the girl. A distant cousin perhaps? If she had been in his clan, he would have seen her several times before now, he was sure of it. These thoughts and others rolled through his head until Hashirama noticed something that brought his musings to a screeching halt.

She was breathing...

Shaking off his surprise, he rushed over to the girl and knelt down beside her. "Hey! Hey, can you hear me? Say something!" he begged as he looked her over with a critical eye. The girl let out a slight groan, but it didn't appear as it was meant to be in response to what he had said. As Hashirama continued to study her condition but, even as he cataloged her injuries and what he would need to treat them, he couldn't help but feel that there was something strange about this girl. Deciding that she wasn't in any immediate danger, Hashirama took a moment to try and figure out what it was. He squinted his eyes as he attempted to examine her more closely. Figuring out just what was "off", his eyes widened again as he leaned back in surprise.

Her burns...they were healing, the skin visibly knitting itself back together at an alarming rate. It was barely noticeable, but it was still there. Plain as day. Her own body was healing. At the rate of which it was going, she would be in perfect health by tomorrow evening at the latest.

 _But if she's healing this fast… how bad was it when she was injured?_ the young Senju wondered, a chill running up his spine at the thought.

Since her wounds were already healing, he didn't see any harm in helping it along. Hashirama, with his knowledge on pressure points, found the exact point on her body which would make it so she couldn't feel anything, nor be able to move on her own accord for some time. Once he pressed that point and knew she couldn't feel any pain, he began to examine her clothes to see just where the fabric was fused. He then proceeded to use a kunai to cut around the holes where the fabric was fused and remove the clothing from her body. The parts of the fabric that were fused would eventually get pushed out as her body healed. So now it was just a matter of patience.

After he removed as much of her clothing as he possibly could, he set them aside for later. Then, ever so gently as not to aggravate her wounds, Hashirama picked her up and brought her over to the river. Lying her in the shallows close to the shore so that her head would remain above the riverbank, he cleaned her off as best he could, paying close attention to her wounds. Red blood faintly staining the clear waters of the river as he worked, the crusted blood, dirt, and debris washing off and flowing down stream as he methodically washed her body. When he was finished, he carefully picked her up just a little and slid the girl into the river a little more. Her face above the water's surface, but submerged just enough so he could wash out her hair and the burns that were on her face. Dislodging the leather tie from her hair and tossing it to the shore for later, Hashirama began to gently run his fingers through her hair, pulling out the tangles as he let the water do its work.

Once he was sure that all of her burns were clean, Hashirama gingerly picked her up and brought her back up to the shore. Lying her on the soft grass before he hovered his hand over her chest; a faint green glow washing over his hands. Using his medical jutsu to help her wounds heal that much faster. As he did so, he saw a drastic change in speed. When it was barely visible before, it was quite plain to see, now. He really wasn't doing much. He waved his hand over all the burns as he watched the wounds heal quickly. More fascinated by what he was seeing to notice that someone else had made their way to the river.

It was the boy who had become friends with Hashirama, Madara. A member of the Uchiha clan, though Hashirama was as unaware of that particular fact as Madara was of Hashirama being from the Senju. He had made his way to the river, like he had several times before now, to meet up with his friend. Though he never really knew when he was going to see the young Senju, he always found his way to the river so he could wait and hopefully see Hashirama. Today, however, Hashirama had beaten him to their getaway spot. It wasn't uncommon, but it didn't always happen, either. What had surprised the young Uchiha wasn't that Hashirama had beaten him to the river. It was that he was healing some girl.

Slowly, Madara made his way to Hashirama and the mystery girl. Due to the time of which they lived, Madara knew that his young friend wouldn't take being surprised lightly. He could tell that Hashirama's attention was mainly focused on the young girl he was trying to help. Readying himself for Hashirama's inevitably violent-and amusing-response, Madara's black eyes stared down at the young Senju for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh. As a means of getting Hashirama's attention.

As if right on cue, the moment Hashirama heard the heavy sigh, his eyes instantly widened before he quickly stopped what he was doing and pulled out a kunai. Leaping over the girl's body towards Madara and pinning him to a tree. The blade to Madara's throat as the young Senju glared at him for a split second before his mind registered that it was, indeed, his best friend. Once he realized just who it was, Hashirama blinked before he stepped away from Madara.

"Sorry about that, Madara," Hashirama apologized. "I didn't realize it was you…"

Madara smirked as he looked at the young Senju. "I know," he assured him. Then his expression turned blank. "However, I do not know why there is a girl in a very distracting state of dress here, or why you seem to be healing her."

"She's around our age, Madara," Hashirama informed him as he turned and made his way back to the girl. Kneeling down beside her, once more, and continuing his work. "I can't just leave her to die…"

"Funny," Madara began as he made his way over to Hashirama and the girl. Standing behind his friend as he looked at him. "What if when she is fully healed and wakes up, she then goes to kill you? Remember, this isn't the world we have dreamed about, yet. She might not be so grateful once she's back to full health."

"What's funny is you assuming that I'm actually doing all the work," Hashirama shot back. "I'm merely speeding up the process her body is already doing. About the most work I have done is washing out the wounds."

Madara gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

After a minute, Hashirama removed his hand from the girl's body so the healing process slowed down, once more. "Take a look for yourself," he instructed his friend.

Madara blinked at Hashirama for a moment before he shifted his gaze back to the young girl. He knelt down next to the young Senju as he began to examine her wounds and found them to be doing exactly what Hashirama had told him. Watching as her body was slowly, but quite visibly, knitting the skin back together. Now quite surprised, he turned his widened gaze to Hashirama.

"How is this possible?" he demanded in shock.

"I have no idea," Hashirama answered as he went back to his work. The skin reacting to the medical jutsu, once more, and seeming to have blinding speeds in the girl's own recovery process. Even for a standard medical jutsu. "She was already doing this when I had found her, _unconsciously_. So it's not any sort of medical ninjutsu I've ever heard of. Her burns were much more severe when I had got here. And they were probably much worse than that _before_ I got here. Judging by the original rate at which she was healing, she would have been perfectly fine by tomorrow. I highly doubt she would have died if I had let her be. Her own healing process probably would have done everything that I have already. However, that part is merely an educated guess. Nothing is really for certain."

"I still don't think she'll be so friendly when she regains consciousness," Madara informed him. "Our way of life isn't exactly a friendly one, at the moment."

"And yet you and I became friends when we met each other here," Hashirama countered as he looked at the young Uchiha. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Madara rolled his eyes. "Your arrogance will bring about your downfall, in the end… I'm sure of it."

"Nope, I will most likely die from my wife's cooking… and this is kindness, not arrogance."

Madara snorted. "Your wife?"

"My betrothed. Wonderful girl but she is a menace in the kitchen," Hashirama informed him.

"Kindness?" The young Uchiha inquired.

"Ever heard the saying 'Kill them with kindness'?" Hashirama wondered, answering Madara's question with another.

"No, I haven't," Madara informed him.

"Yes you have," Hashirama countered.

"You telling me just now does not count," The young Uchiha argued.

"Sure it does," Hashirama said cheerfully.

"Do you have to be so chipper all the time?" Madara demanded.

"I'm attempting to turn my kindness into a passive-aggressive form of attack. Is it working?" the young Senju asked.

"You're an idiot," Madara chuckled before frowning at their guest. "So why _are_ you helping her exactly?"

Suddenly all mirth left Hashirama's face as he stared fixedly into the river. "Her hair reminds me of my brother's… we buried him yesterday."

Madara's expression became pained as he looked at his friend. "I see…" he trailed off. "...I know how that feels. Losing a sibling." The young Uchiha returned his gaze to the girl. "...So, is she a member of your clan, then?"

Hashirama shrugged. "To be honest, I have no idea." He then turned his gaze to Madara. "When did you lose your siblings?"

"I lost three brothers to this war a while ago," Madara informed him. "I only have one younger brother left. And I'm doing everything I can to make sure he continues to survive..."

Hashirama nodded. "I guess that means our dream is more important now, than ever before. Neither of us wants to lose the remaining siblings we both have. One younger brother agrees with me, while the other thinks we should seek revenge for our fallen brother. With each passing day, he's becoming more like the rest of them. Those who want nothing more than to continue to fight and slaughter anyone who gets in our way."

Once the wounds were finally healed, Hashirama then began to use his medical jutsu to encourage the girl's body to push out any foreign matter more quickly. Watching as the fused fabric quickly dislodged itself from the girl's flesh, as well as dirt and small twigs that had not been taken out from when he had washed her body in the river. Both Madara and Hashirama watched in amazement as the realization of just how damaged she had been began to sink in.

Judging by how deep the fabric and other debris had been, her burns had to have been severe. At least fourth-degree. And when Hashirama had found her, her burns were close to being second-degree in appearance. What fascinated them even more wasn't just the extent of the damage she had taken, but the fact that after everything was finished healing, there wasn't a single scar on her body to indicate that the wounds had even been there.

"This girl is indeed a mystery…" Madara trailed off as he continued to stare at the young girl.

Hashirama went to put the girl's tattered clothes back on. "That she is…" Hashirama agreed.

Madara, noticing the state of the girl's clothes, turned his gaze to Hashirama. "Those clothes look pretty bad. It might be a good idea to not put those back on her and get her some new ones."

Hashirama smirked as he looked at his friend. "Does that mean you're starting to agree with my passive-aggressive tactics?"

Madara gave him a droll stare. "I am simply giving a suggestion," he countered. "She may be covered, but not completely. Those clothes are filthy and tattered. If we're going to help her, might as well get her a new change of clothes, as well."

"Well, I'll have to try to swipe some clothes for her, then," Hashirama said. "Right now, it might be a good idea if she were to remain out of sight from the other clans. And until I know if she's a member of my clan, it might be a good idea if I don't bring her with me to get her that new change of clothes."

"Then don't take her, right away," Madara agreed. "I can't take her with me because everyone in my clan would know right away that she is from a different clan. I could probably sneak a change of clothes, but there's no way I can bring her with me."

"It's settled, then," Hashirama began as he looked at Madara with a smile. "You stay here and make sure nothing happens to her while I go back to the clan and get her some clothes."

Madara gave the young Senju an accusing stare. "Why do I have to stay here while you get her the clothes?"

Hashirama gave his friend a cheesy grin. "Because I'm the one who found her first."

Madara slouched his head. "I don't think that's a good enough reason…"

"Sure it is," the young Senju replied. He then reached out and hit the pressure point to enable her to move and feel things, again. Once he was done, he rose to his feet. "Now I'm off. Try not to attract any attention to your location while I'm gone."

Madara let out a heavy sigh as Hashirama rushed off. He wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to do anything that would let other ninja know where he was. After all, the girl was still unconscious. Meaning if anyone did find them, she would be an easy target, and though he wouldn't have minded it on any other circumstance, he saw no reason why he would allow someone to kill her while in such a state. On top of that, it just seemed unsporting to kill someone while they were down.

* * *

A/N: Again, didn't have a chapter for _Team Tragedy_. But I did have a chapter for this. So here you go. Hope you enjoy.^^

 **EXCLUSIVE! NO OTHER SITE WILL HAVE THIS STORY! FEEL PRIVILEGED!**

Like my story? Please support my writing by becoming my patron at . com. Type in " . com." Then add "/ elderxchildx6" to the end of it and it should take you directly to my page. (Be sure to remove the spacing between everything so that way you can actually get to my account.)


	3. Chapter 2: Hatake Len

**From the Ashes**

 **A Naruto Fanfiction**

 **Author: ElderxChildx6**

 **Co-Author/Editor: EDelta88**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights reserved.**

 **From the Ashes (c) Me & EDelta88**

 **Len (c) Me**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Hatake Len**

Madara sat very still, decidedly looking _anywhere_ but at the girl Hashirama had found.

Hashirama had been gone for three hours…

"What in the name of the gods is taking him so long?" Madara asked out loud. His voice a little on edge as he glared into the trees where his friend had disappeared..

Hashirama had left him, alone, with a very attractive, very _naked_ , girl for _three hours._

"I am going to kill him," Madara said with the sort of calm that can only be conjured by someone who fully intends to carry out their statement. Because, at this particular moment, Madara had every intention of killing his friend in the most prolonged and creative manner he could think of for putting him in this position.

Something shiny caught his eye.

Palming a kunai, Madara twisted to find whatever it was he had seen… and froze.

It had been the girl's silver hair, glinting in the sunlight as she turned over in her sleep giving Madara an excellent view of her developing body.

The young Uchiha promptly turned bright red as he spun around to face away from the girl, once again plotting his friend's painful demise.

"Unh..." the girl groaned, once more shifting in her sleep.

 _What is she doing?_ Madara wondered with a frown. She just kept moving. Was she uncomfortable or something? Perhaps she was…

Then Madara felt something soft and recognizably feminine press against the small of his back.

Not a second later, Madara was ten meters off the ground clinging to a tree branch as he stared back into the clearing as he attempted to slow his racing heartbeat.

The girl gave another groan, almost a whimper, and started to shiver.

Madara's eyes went wide for a second… then he smacked himself in the forehead, still holding onto the branch with one hand. "She's cold, _idiot_ ," he hissed to himself. Of course she would be cold. Hadn't Hashirama said he'd found her out here? She'd probably been here all _night_ before his friend had stripped her and put her in the _cold_ river before leaving her to dry in the _shade_. Fire country might be known for its warm weather all year, but it was the cooler season at the moment.

Now, how to fix this…

As he released his hold on the branch and fell back to his feet on the ground, his first thought was to start a fire; he was an Uchiha after all, a certain level of pyromania was to be expected. Unfortunately, starting a fire was probably the worst thing he could possibly do since it would draw attention to their position and, while skilled for his age, Madara did not feel he could protect himself and the girl if someone attacked. There was also the fact that the girl had been severely burned from whatever mess she had gotten into before she stumbled onto the clearing, and her waking up to see that a fire was close to her might cause her to go into a state of panic. Something that, though he would get some slight amusement out of, he really didn't want to deal with, at the moment.

The next choice would be to find a sunny patch to put her in but that left her, and Madara by extension, even more exposed. If he had a blanket this wouldn't be a problem but he hadn't anticipated…

Then Madara's eyes drifted down, looking at himself… and the light coat he was wearing.

"Well, I feel stupid," he muttered, rolling his eyes as he pulled the light garment off and removing his weapons from it before draping it over the girl. "There, all better!" Madara sighed, feeling exceptionally pleased with himself. And why shouldn't he? Not only did he solve the problem of their guest being cold, he solved his problem of being distracted by her impressive figure.

Except, ten minutes later, she was still shivering.

"She's hypothermic," Madara realized, his eyes fixed on the bluish tint to her lips and trying to ignore the way it accented her pale cheeks and hair color. Hypothermia. His mother had just explained several kinds of first-aid to him and Izuna not too long ago. What was the cure to hypothermia again? Something to do with heat. She had said he had to…

In the next second, as he remembered his mother's lesson, Uchiha Madara invented a completely new shade of red as blood pooled in his cheeks.

The cure for hypothermia… was body heat. He had to hold her close to him and let her absorb warmth from his body because hers wasn't producing enough anymore. Something Madara could understand, but something he was not at all comfortable with. Still, he didn't have any better options that were viable so he had to do it. It was either that, or let her stay the way she was now… and get his ear chewed off when Hashirama got back and found her that way.

So, taking a deep, calming breath Madara removed his jacket from the girl. As he moved behind the girl, he removed his baggy wool shirt. Revealing his fairly toned midsection. Sitting against a nearby tree, he pulled her so that she was sitting against his chest with the jacket on top of both of them. The girl gave a breathy sigh, snuggling into his chest as Madara's blush deepened even further. "You better appreciate this," he muttered, keeping a kunai close at hand and molding a minute amount of chakra in case he needed to kawarimi on short notice.

And this is how Hashirama found his friend an hour later when he returned with the clothes. Seeing the blush and obvious discomfort written all over his friend's face, Hashirama couldn't help but smile.

"Not. One. Word," Madara growled through his teeth.

Hashirama clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

"Hashirama, I swear if you utter so much as one syllable, I am going to-"

The poor young Senju just couldn't help himself. "Hahaha, comfortable?" he snickered.

"You're dead!" Madara hissed, performing the body switch with the clothes Hashirama was carrying before throwing a vicious kick at his friend's head.

Hashirama swiftly moved just in time to barely miss the young Uchiha's foot before he held up his hands. As if the simple act would stop him. "Hey, you walked into it the moment you decided to stay that way. It's not my fault."

"You left her here! What was I supposed to do?!" Madara shouted, moving flawlessly into a combination of punches.

Hashirama tried his best to dodge each of his punches. "Okay...you have a point there, but-" One of Madara's punches connected on the young Senju's face and sent him flying a short distance away from him. Hashirama sat there on the ground rubbing his face. "Owie…"

Taking advantage of his friend's distraction, Madara grabbed ahold of Hashirama's haori and pulled, twisting him over his shoulder and hurling him across the clearing at a tree.

Hashirama twisted in the air and planted his feet on the ground. Skidding to a stop just before he could hit the tree. "Honestly, Madara, what's gotten into you?" he demanded. "She's just a girl in need of help. I don't hold it against you for what you did… I just find it a little suspicious that you would take off your shirt before you actually would do it, that's all."

" _Hashiramaaaa_!" Madara roared, recklessly charging at his friend, all his devious plans forgotten in favor of attempting to pummel every inch of his friend that he could reach.

Unfortunately for Madara, this is exactly what Hashirama was hoping for. Cleanly sidestepping Madara's charge, the young Senju stuck out his leg and tripped his friend, sending him tumbling head over heels and into the river.

For a moment, Madara sat in the shallows, soaked to the bone and glaring bloody murder at his best friend. "I hate you," he stated.

"I know," Hashirama chirped, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

"With the fire of a thousand suns," Madara added.

"Is that all?" Hashirama asked, raising a brow in mock curiosity. "I was sure I merited at least a few thousand…oh well."

"...I hate you."

"Love you, too, buddy," Hashirama replied, waving his hand dismissively at his friend.

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

The boys blinked before turning in unison to stare at the girl… who was now very awake and clutching Madara's jacket to her very naked body.

"Um… I think she's awake," Hashirama muttered lamely.

"Gee, you think?" Madara replied, sarcasm all but dripping from his lips.

"Um… we brought you clothes?" Hashirama tried, pointing to the bundle that was laying behind her.

The girl glanced behind her to the clothes before she looked back at the two boys. "...Thanks...I think… BUT YOU TWO NEED TO VACATE THE PREMISES… OR TURN AWAY!"

Madara spun around so violently that he splashed water all over Hashirama.

For a moment, Hashirama did nothing but stare down at himself, then he turned to Madara. "Really?" he asked dully. Was his friend gynophobic or something?

"I SAID TURN AROUND, PERVERT!"

"Hey now! I'm not-"

 _WHAM!_

"...Owie," Hashirama muttered, sullenly rubbing the spot where the girl's rock had hit him in the head as he turned away.

The girl watched them for a moment until she was convinced that they weren't looking. She then removed the jacket she was using to cover herself and began to sift through the clothes that Hashirama had brought for her. As she looked at the clothes, she decided that they would do, at least for the time being. She would be able to modify the clothes later on. When she had the time and equipment to do it. The girl began to swiftly put the clothes on. Unsure on when the two boys would suddenly turn back around.

Once she was dressed, the girl stood up and looked back at the two boys. Surprised that they had stayed turned away, though she did notice that the long haired one had armed himself in case she had tried anything. "Okay…" she trailed off. "You can look now."

Once they turned around, Hashirama glanced over and smirked at Madara. "Looks like I was right," he gloated.

"That remains to be seen," Madara countered, keeping a firm grip on his kunai as he eyed their guest.

The girl blinked as she looked at the two boys for a moment. Appearing to be genuinely surprised about something. After a few minutes, Hashirama and Madara glanced over to one another. Feeling a bit uneasy that the girl was just staring at them without saying anything before they looked back to the silver-haired visitor.

"So..." Hashirama began. "I'm Hashirama, I found you this morning and treated your wounds. This is my best friend, Madara, he watched over you while I went to get you those clothes, since yours were trashed."

The girl quirked a curious eyebrow, looking back and forth between them several times before replying. "I'm… Len, Hatake Len," she said, rather cautiously.

' _Hatake?'_ Madara wondered, frowning as he tried to remember what he knew about the Hatake clan. They weren't a very… visible, clan. From what he could remember they specialized in subterfuge and information gathering, occasionally assassination.

And, if memory served, they had ties to the Senju clan; a loose business relationship, nothing more.

"Nice to meet ya!" Hashirama crowed.

Len blinked as she looked at the young Senju. "...Likewise," she said blankly.

"So, can I ask you a question," Hashirama asked.

"Um… yes," Len replied cautiously.

"How did you get so badly burned? From what I could tell it was _really_ bad," he said before adding, "Hell, I'm not even sure how you're alive to be honest."

Len blinked and for a horrible second she wasn't in the clearing anymore. She was surrounded by fire, smoke choking her as the roar of the flames drowned out the screams of the dying all around her…

"I got caught in a house fire," she replied, her voice raw and small.

Hashirama and Madara shared a look. She wasn't telling them everything and whatever the rest of it was, it was _bad_. Silence overtook the clearing as the boys decided not to push her, waiting for her to make the next move.

"So, you two.. you're friends?" Len inquired, finally breaking the silence. Trying to redirect the subject to something else.

"Yeah, thick as thieves!" Hashirama laughed.

 _Ironic choice of words considering some of the missions I've been on,_ Madara thought as he remembered one of his more eventful "retrieval" missions.

" _ **How curious,"**_ a mysterious voice began inside Len's head. " _ **An Uchiha...and a Senju...best friends. A meeting of the ways after all this time."**_

Len frowned, her face screwed up thoughtfully as she stared at the two boys. "Huh… well, that's kinda weird."

Madara's eyes narrowed dangerously. What was weird? What was she talking about?

Hashirama, meanwhile, blinked in confusion. "Huh? What's weird?" he asked. Speaking Madara's question out loud.

"Well, a _Senju_ ," she began, pointing at Hashirama, "best friends with an _Uchiha_?"-she pointed to Madara, then-"Paint me crazy but haven't your family's been trying to kill each other since...well, forever? That doesn't strike you as a bit odd?"

Both boys sat completely still, staring at Len in shock as they wondered how she had known what clans they were from. Then, as if finally understanding what she had said, they rounded on each other.

"You're an Uchiha/Senju!?" they cried in unison, pointing accusing fingers at each other.

Len blinked, confused for a second before something dawned on her. "Wait, you two didn't know that you were from rival clans?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious.

The boys turned to her. "Of course we didn't-"

Whatever else the boys might have said was drowned out as Len collapsed, howling with laughter. "I c-can't believe it! Ha ha! You d-didn't- ha ha- You didn't know you were best friends with your mortal enemies! A-hahaha! That's hysterical!" she cried, struggling to speak as she clutched her now aching sides.

Both boys looked suitably abashed. Blushing and refusing to make eye contact as they muttered their lame excuses.

Calming down, Len stared at them for a few minutes before she sighed heavily. "Look, whether you two are best friends or mortal enemies really doesn't matter to me," she told them. "It's just surprising to see that you two _are_ 'best friends' is all." A slight smile then appeared on her face. "It is nice to see, though. Knowing that there is some hope for your clans to stop fighting against each other."

Madara blinked… then blinked again… then palmed his face. "Oh damnit, not another one," he groaned. Another idealist? Why did this keep happening to him? And by the gods if she was as crazy as Hashirama he was going to kill himself… well, not really but there was only so much of his friend's particular brand of crazy that he could take in one sitting.

Len frowned, staring at Madara. "What's his problem?" she asked Hashirama.

Hashirama smiled smugly. "I want to bring peace to our clans. He agrees with me but thinks I'm crazy."

"That… makes sense?" Len began uncertainly as she looked over at Madara. "This isn't exactly a place where people are really going to listen...at least not to a kid."

"Thank you!" Madara sighed, gesturing to her as if to say 'See? I'm not the only one!' Maybe she thought more like him? That would be nice. A voice of reason for once.

Hashirama looked at them both like they were stupid. "We're not going to be kids forever you know," he pointed out.

Madara blinked.

Len blinked.

Madara looked at Len.

Len looked at Madara.

"That… is a very good point," Len admitted.

Madara sagged in defeat. "Yeah… yeah it is," he relented. Why hadn't he thought of that?

Len turned her attention back to Hashirama. "But do you realize how long it's going to take before someone will even consider listening to you? We'll still be dealing with this war for _years_ before anyone will even entertain the idea of some kind of truce."

Hashirama shrugged nonchalantly. "I know, that's why we need to start now. Convince others our age so that when our parents' generation dies we've already laid the groundwork for some kind of peace talks."

Madara blinked.

Len blinked.

Madara turned to Len.

Len turned to Madara.

"Is he some kind of idiot savant with world domination or something?" she asked.

"That sounded more like cult tactics and indoctrination theory to me," Madara countered, refusing to admit total defeat.

Hashirama pouted. "Hey~" he whined. "I can be smart too you know!"

Len nodded as she looked to Hashirama. "Sure you can," she said sarcastically.

Madara blinked owlishly at their newly acquired third wheel. "You're kinda vicious, you know that? True, but vicious."

Len gave the Uchiha a deadpanned look. "Ninja~"

"...Right, forget I said anything." Madara replied as he looked away.

"You both suck," Hashirama muttered, suddenly crouched in a corner with a storm cloud of gloom hovering over his head… how he had found a corner in the middle of a forest his friends would never know.

Len blinked as she watched him before she closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "Is he always like this?" she inquired as she looked at Madara.

"Nope," Madara replied.

Hashirama looked up hopefully. Hurray! His friend was going to defend him!

"Most of the time he's worse," Madara finished, a knowing smirk tugging at his lips.

Rivers of tears started streaming down Hashirama's face as he sullenly drew patterns in the dirt. All the while Len and Madara laughed good naturedly, none of them knowing that they had just formed a friendship that would change the course of history.

* * *

A/N: So...I'm alive, It has been a very long time. A ton has happened. I am now a mom of a beautiful baby girl. Things are starting to look up financially. I moved out of my parent's house and moved into an apartment with my boyfriend (who is the father to my child).

I also started streaming on Twitch and became a Twitch Affiliate. My username on there is the same as it is here. So if you want to come by to check it out, you are more than welcome to do I am streaming Pokemon, currently. So if you're not a fan of Pokemon, I'm probably not the streamer for you.

I am also in the process of starting my own business so that way I can get away from Corporate and be a stay-at-home mom for my baby. Because as much as I do cherish the "me" time that I get through working, at the same time, I don't want my "me" time to be when I go to work. I want it to be when I can have a relative watch the baby for a few hours while my boyfriend and I go off to enjoy ourselves.

As for Team Tragedy, it is going through a revamp, currently. So if you are reading Team Tragedy...I don't know if I'm going to get that next chapter uploaded before the actual revamp takes place. So I figured I'd give you the warning here in this chapter so that you can keep the eye out for the revamp to that story. I know I had a ton of people reading that story and enjoying it severely. But there were several chapters where I felt I could have done better. And so because of that, I am going to just completely revamp it to make it better.

Thank you all for understanding not only my roller coaster ride through life and becoming a new mom, but for Team Tragedy, as well. Hopefully I won't be gone for so long, in the future. But I can't really make any promises on that, just yet. Life is still chaotic, until I state otherwise. But things are starting to get better for me, now.

 **EXCLUSIVE! NO OTHER WILL HAVE THIS STORY! FEEL PRIVILEGED!**


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